The present disclosure relates to upholstery, and particularly to upholstery stitching apparatus and processes. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to alignment of two materials to be stitched to produce automotive upholstery.
Automotive upholstery applications, excluding seating applications, very often employ a soft, relatively thin textile or leather cover positioned over a substrate material constructed from a less flexible material, such as metal, plastic, foam, or the like. Automotive seating applications, being a specialized subset of automotive upholstery applications, typically comprise a soft cover mounted on an inner substrate constructed from a resilient foam material. In either automotive upholstery application, the soft cover is usually formed from a number of parts stitched to each other by seams along join lines. In automotive seating applications, the threads of the seams are often adapted to attach to portions of the foam substrate material below, thereby holding the cover in a fixed position on the underlying foam substrate. In non-seating applications, the soft cover may be attached by other attachment means, such as, for example, adhesives, clips, and staples.